The Black Cat Essay Example for Free

The Black Cat Essay Short Story Analysis: The Black Cat The Black Cat by Edgar Alan Poe is a short story told in a first person narrative, from the point of view of an incarcerated murderer. There are several ways to interpret this story; the reader can also gain insight on the narrator’s state of mind. What I am going to talk about today is how the narrator uses a lot of symbolism and descriptive elements in his story, and in turn, how the reader will interpret the narrator as a person. A few characteristics that will be highlighted are death, psychosis/state of mind of the narrator, and alcoholism. The narrator admits an alcohol dependency right from the start. â€Å"One night, returning home , much intoxicated, from one of my haunts about town†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (2). This gives the reader the impression that it is in the narrator’s normal character to be under the influence. The narrator used alcohol as his reasoning for cutting the black cat’s eye out. He then drinks away his guilt and sins with alcohol, â€Å"I again plunged into excess, and soon drowned in wine all memory of the deed† (3). From these statements, the reader can assume that the narrator is an alcoholic and uses that to blur the reality of his decisions. Madness is defined as the state of being mentally ill or extremely foolish behavior. In this story it is apparent that the narrator could very well be mentally unstable. He immediately expressed his fondness for animals, he thought of animals as a â€Å"principal sources of pleasure† (2). He later gets pleasure from abusing one of his animals, the black cat, by cutting the cat’s eye out with a knife. All because he felt the cat was avoiding him. He later hangs the cat, and then constantly feels haunted by his acts. In a way, the narrator seems enticed by his evil actions. â€Å"Evil thoughts became my sole intimates-the darkest and most evil of thoughts† (5). The narrator’s last act of evil is the murder of his wife, when he hits her in the head with an axe. He then immediately thinks of ways to cover up the murder. He talks about cutting his wife up into pieces, but later decides that he will hide her body in the brick wall in the cellar of their home. From this the reader has gone from believing the narrator is just some troubled alcoholic, to believing the narrator is suffering some serious psychosis. There are many faces of death in this story. The first starts with the abuse of the black cat. The narrator comes home drunk and believes the cat is being disobedient so he cuts the cat’s eye out. Later, when his guilt builds up and he can no longer take it, the narrator hangs the cat. He becomes paranoid and believes the cat is haunting him from the grave. Although I thus readily accounted to my reason, if not altogether to my conscience, for the startling fact just detailed, it did not the less fail to make a deep impression upon my fancy†¦among the vile haunts which I now habitually frequented† (4). The next face of death is the cruel and unexpected murder of the narrator’s wife. It becomes apparent that the narrator has a disturbing fascination when carrying out the acts of murder. These actions tie into the narrator’s mental stability. It is one thing to have thoughts of harming one’s self or others, but it is another thing when those thoughts are acted upon. â€Å"My happiness was supreme! The guilt of my dark deed disturbed me but little† (6). From this the reader can assume that the narrator is a mentally unstable alcoholic murderer. The three main descriptive characteristics that I wanted to highlight about the narrator and the story of The Black Cat are alcoholism, psychosis, and death. With these three elements the reader can pass judgment on the narrator and create an overall opinion of him as a person. The reader can become first enticed by the story with the narrator talking about his love for animals and then later his cruelty towards them. Next the reader begins to wonder if the narrator is imagining these things, â€Å"Upon its head†¦sat the hideous beast whose craft had seduced me into murder, and whose informing voice had consigned me to the hangman† (7). Finally the reader can confidently asses their overall impression of the narrator. â€Å"Mad indeed would I be to expect it, in a case where my very senses reject their own evidence. But to-morrow I die and to-day I would unburden my soul† (1).

Emily Dickinsons The Goal :: essays research papers

Emily Dickinson's "The Goal" discusses her theory that each human being lives each day striving to obtain one specific goal. She theorizes that each individual longs to fulfill one specific achievement whether "expressed" to others or is "still" (l. 2) and locked into the individual's heart. Dickinson says that it is an inevitable part of human nature to live this way, whether we believe so or not, and have not been able to recognize the specific theme of our life as it is "admitted scarcely to itself" (l. 5). She speculates that we attempt to cover our ambitions from others because we lack "credibility's temerity" (l. 7) and are scared that we are less accomplished than we should be to even imagine so great of expectations. She also brings out that not only are we wary of sharing our dream to others, but we ourselves approach it "adored with caution" (l. 9). Even though we ourselves doubt our ability to achieve the extent of our dream, Dickinson says that the further away and the less attainable, the more desirable of an objective it becomes. She says that we chase after our goal like someone chasing after "the rainbow's raiment" (l. 11) which we continue to pursue for its beauty and the pot of gold, even though we know that it is only an appealing myth and the end of the rainbow does not truly exist at all. She compares our faith in achieving our goal as someone reaching "a brittle heaven" (l. 9) and living their lives in blind faith that they will ultimately achieve that goal. We all live our lives in part expecting to achieve utopia and to see the face of God at our death, but occasional we question the rationale of this heart's desire. We do however have to believe on the basis that without that belief, living a moral life and having a supernatural relationship would be ludicrous without that end reward of sitting at the feet of our maker. Likewise, we should live our lives with a mortal goal and faith that we will achieve it. If we approach our earthly desires in this manner, we will be more disciplined, and will seek to achieve this goal with all costs. Dickinson says that we should be inspired by "the saints' slow diligence" (l. 15) who have gone before us all working towards their goal of spreading the gospel and doing good works.

Belonging in As You Like It Essay

The need to belong can cause us to develop comforting relationships, powerful social groups, productive workplace teams, and inspiring religious and national bonds. But it can also be responsible for hurtful and damaging behaviour when those who are unable or unwilling to adapt are forced to conform or are completely excluded. These two aspects of belonging are evident in Shakespeare’s As You Like It, and Kevin Costner’s film Dances with Wolves and W. H. Auden’s satiric poem ‘The Unknown Citizen’. Shakespeare makes us aware of the contrasting qualities of the natural harmonious forest (where everyone seems contented and loving) and the corrupt, pompous court, controlled by the usurper Duke Frederick with his use of symbolic juxtaposition and allusion to. His fury over his daughter’s close relationship with Rosalind (the daughter of the displaced Duke Senior) reinforces their close bond. Celia describes the two of them with a harmonious image from the natural world: â€Å"coupled and inseparable.. like Juno’s swans†. Dramatically, Shakespeare emphasises their closeness by including their good-hearted banter, and having them adopt disguises before entering the forest. Their supportive relationship gives them strength, so that instead of feeling grief as a result of their expulsion from court, they focus on the positive. Celia’s comments help us to see court and forest as binary opposites when she declares â€Å"now go we in content to liberty and not to banishment. † Shakespeare shows us how belonging in a close relationships can bring strength, but how this exclusivity may also be seen as a threat by others. Another text which shows a surprising response to exile is Kevin Costner’s Academy award-winning film â€Å"Dances with Wolves†. In it the main character, John Dunbar voluntarily exiles himself, leaving both his own white American culture, and also the senseless Civil War that he had been fighting in, determined to see the west â€Å"before it has gone†. Even though he had been compelled by tradition, expectation and a sense of duty to serve loyally, he finds himself drawn to establish stronger links with the Dakota Sioux Indians, who were commonly viewed as â€Å"thieves and beggars†. Like Celia in As You Like It, he does not view his exile as banishment, but as an opportunity to escape a restrictive and corrupt society in order to gain a sense of freedom and find spiritually renewal. In addition to Dunbar’s first person narration, the film uses a number of mis-en-scene elements, such as costuming, dialogue and symbolic motifs to show the way John Dunbar is gradually accepted into the Sioux culture. Early in his exile, we see him dressed in full uniform, and hear him using military jargon as he describes â€Å"burying excess ordinance† and trying to â€Å"mount an adequate defence†. After his initial encounters with the Lakota Indians his new-found sense of belonging is evident as he begins to speak their language, and is greeted courteously. A change of identity is indicated by his altered appearance, as he becomes clean-shaven, begins wearing a red shirt and trades his army hat for a knife. The film shows a montage of incidents in which Dunbar adopts Sioux customs, such as eating raw buffalo heart. Dean Semler, the cinematograph-er, uses a red filter and passionate music to depict Dunbar’s sorrow when he is separated from his new friends. Finally, Dunbar’s assimilation into the Lakota culture is evident when he becomes able to speak fluently in Lakota, and falls in love with Stands With a Fist. â€Å"I’d never known who John Dunbar was. But as I heard my Sioux name (â€Å"Dances with Wolves†) called out again and again, I knew who I really was†. Costner’s film shows us that humans have a need for relationships, but that we can belong within many different relationships, groups and cultures. Just as Celia and Rosalind establish new relationships in exile and are not troubled by their exclusion from court, Dunbar is restored and fulfilled by his acceptance into a more meaningful and supportive Lakota culture. In contrast to Dunbar’s experiences of belonging, the character of Jaques in â€Å"As You Like It’ shows us that belonging can be impossible for people who are very independent and highly individual. Although he goes into exile willingly he does not accept Duke Senior’s analogy that adversity, like the toad, ugly and venomous, Wears yet a precious jewel in his head†. For Jaques, unlike Dunbar, living in exile does not bring rewards and happiness. He insists that he loves to be miserable and to ‘suck melancholy from a song as a weasel sucks eggs†. Shakespeare’s use of such images from nature is very effective in suggesting that, unlike most people, Jaques does not find the experience of being in exile with others either comfortable or necessary. This is evident from his use of highly emotive words to express his dislike of the world around him and his wish to â€Å"Cleanse the foul body of the infected world†. Inevitably his critical, judgmental character makes him an outcast ridiculed for his tears for a wounded stag. Jaques’ depressive nature makes it difficult for him to view life positively as he reveals in his speech on the seven Ages of Man, which finishes with the tragically negative repetition of ‘sans’ (meaning ‘without’) to emphasise the desperate plight of the elderly â€Å"Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything†. When the opportunity arises to return to court, with Duke Senior reinstated, Jaques rejects the idea as he prefers to remain in the ‘abandoned cave’ rather than returning with the others to the trivial pomp of the court. His sense of moral superiority, his inflexibility and his preference for being sombre prevent him from valuing the notion of belonging. Whereas characters like Jaques and Dunbar have the option of choosing whether to belong or not, the ‘unknown citizen’ in W. H. Auden’s satiric poem has been forced to fit in to a tightly run capitalist bureaucracy. The poem takes the form of a eulogy written on the tombstone of this ‘perfect’ member of society, who is only known by his serial number, JS/07 M 378. Auden adopts a formal, prosaic tone to praise the man’s achievements: â€Å"when there was peace, he was for peace When there was war, he went. † The tone of congratulation is clear as the monument praises JS’s life and praises him for being quite ‘normal’. In appearing to praise this ‘saint’ Auden is actually mocking the way those around him in the 1930s blindly relinquished their individuality to the ‘Greater Community’ and he condemns the consumer society which exerts so much control over its citizens. Auden’s oem is laced with irony as the monument extols the virtues of JS who â€Å"had everything necessary to the Modern Man A phonograph, a radio, a car and a Frigidaire. † In this capitalistic conservative society, people are valued for conformist behaviour. The ultimate irony is conveyed in the patronising final lines: â€Å"Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd: Had anything been wrong, we sh ould certainly have heard. † To belong in such a society, Auden suggests, requires people to abandon any search for freedom and happiness as these are, in the authorities’ view, insignificant and irrelevant. Whereas Shakespeare provides Jaques with the opportunity of maintaining his individuality by not belonging, Auden’s speculative vision of the world allows very little opportunity for those who choose not to belong. In contrast to the magical transformative qualities of the forest of Arden in which marriages and reunions abound, Auden’s sterile society depicts the negative behaviour of mindless conformity where individual names are lost, and people are only valued if they can conform to the government’s expectations. The need to belong can force us to adopt conformist behaviour, and can even force humans to live a life of deceit and pretence, as Jaques commented: ‘All the world’s a stage and we are merely players’. Belonging can, on the other hand, provide us with comfort, security, affection and self-worth. The need to belong is certainly both a gift and a curse.

Effects Of Money Laundering On The Economy - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 6 Words: 1823 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Economics Essay Type Cause and effect essay Did you like this example? The purpose of the study concerned the impact of money laundering and its effects on the local economic and method of laundering technique in Mauritius. Money Laundering is very vast in nature; it consists of various steps, technique and approach of undertaking such unlawful activity. The research analyzes the economic effects of Money laundering in the Mauritian Economic. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Effects Of Money Laundering On The Economy" essay for you Create order The research work will attempt to examine the money laundering activities and the usefulness of prevention and detection techniques by local companies. The method that is to be used is mainly studying available research papers so that we get a maximum of information. The purpose of this study is to provide the general public a broad idea on money laundering with some existed solutions. The research will be in the main interest of financial institution, Government and General Public. 2.0 Literature Review 2.1 What is Money Laundering? Money laundering is the process by which money is obtained illegally. Various types of frauds corruption, cooking the books, involve money which has been preceded by several criminal acts. Individual or groups make illegal gains by carrying out these criminal acts and often swindle high amounts. Money laundering makes it possible to legitimate ill-gotten gains through computer crimes, insider trading, and bribery where these produce large amounts of profits. Money laundering takes place within all types of profit-motivated crime, such as embezzlement, fraud, misappropriation, corruption, robbery, distribution of narcotic drugs, and trafficking in human beings (ÃÆ'ËÅ"kokrim, 2008). 2.2 Characteristics of Money Laundering Money Laundering consists of a series of various transactions used to change the source of financial assets so as these assets can be used without compromising the criminalà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s offences. These transactions involve 3 stages (Billy Steel, Money Laundering Stages of the Process): 2.2.1 Placement The first stage refers to the physical distribution of financial assets. It is the most dangerous one for the perpetuators as the money from illicit activities are introduces into the financial system. Money laundering is a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"cash intensiveà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ business generating huge amount of cash from unlawful activities (for example street drug dealing, where payment are made in cash). The proceeds are then place into financial institutions, in the retail economy or deposits out of the country. The principal aim of the launder is to deliberately remove the cash from the location of acquisition and to convert it into other assets so as to prevent detection from authorities. 2.2.2 Layering Layering involves creating complex layers of financial transaction designed to cover audit tails and provide secrecy. The first attempt is to disguise the origin and ownership of the funds by creating complex layers of transaction. The idea of the transaction is to disassociate the illegal funds to the source of the offence. Layering is the second stage, in which the funds are moved so as to veil or remove any whatsoever link from the crime committed to obtain the money. During the layering process, a number of accounts, financial institutions, companies, funds as well as the use of professionals such as brokers, lawyers and consultants as intermediaries could be involved   as this is where the money will be channeled. Assets that are bought through unlawful funds can be resold locally or abroad and as a result, the assets become more difficult to map out and seize. 2.2.3 Integration The final stage consists of the integration of the money in the legitimate economic and financial institution. Integration is the stage whereby takes place the creation of a legitimate basis for the asset origin. The launder make the money appear legally earned and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"cleanedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. At this stage it is very difficult to distinguish by authorities the difference between legal and illegal wealth. The money is viewed as being legal, and the criminal can use it for any purpose. Illicit money is often removed from its country of origin to be cycled through the international payment system so as to blur any audit trait (Joyce, 2005). There are different ways in which the third stage of money laundering is done. For example, a credit card might be handed out by offshore banks, casino à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“winningà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? can be cashed out, capital gains on option, and stock trading might follow, and real estate sale might lead to profit. The proceeds of criminal a cts could be generated from organized crime such as drug trafficking, people smuggling, people trafficking, proceeds from robberies or money acquired by embezzlement, tax evasion, fraud, abuse of company structures, insider trading, or corruption. Popular Methods of the launders at this part of the game is Sending fake import à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" export invoices and overvaluing the price of the goods. Consequently in allows the launders to more the funds from one company or country to another with the invoices serving as source of the capital place with financial companies. A simpler technique is to shift the money (via EFT) to a rightful bank from a bank owned by the launderers, as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"off the shelf banksà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ are easily purchased in many tax havens. The establishment of unspecified company in countries where the right to concealment is guaranteed. In such case the launderer is in a position to grant loans from banks to undertake certain future leg al transaction. In addition launders can claim tax relief on loan repayments and interest on loan so as to increase their profits. Most criminal acts are motivated by profit, argues Financial Intelligence Unit (2008). When substantial profits are generated from crime, perpetrators have to devise a means to control the assets in such a way that they do not attract attention to themselves or the crime committed. Thus, the money laundering process is crucial in order to enjoy the profit without arousing suspicion. 2.3 Problem statement: 2.3.1 Banking Secrecy: A major drawback of money laundering Banking secrecy is a professional obligation, meaning that financial institutions shall not expose a customerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s financial information and they even have the right to resist any third partyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s enquiries in order to protect the customerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s wellbeing. Secrecy laws have served to safeguard persons from financial failure in countries plagued by unsteadiness, fragile currency and run-away inflation rate. Wealthy individuals and political agents are also protected by allowing them to hide their possessions to avoid the risk of persecution (Savona, E.U, 1997). In some countries, for example in Switzerland, the revelation of secret banking information is punishable by law, whether it is intentional or unintentional (Corrado, M.G, 1988). In the world we are presently living, nobody can deny the fact that banking secrecy is the most significant weapon for money launderers. Some countries like Hong Kong, Switzerland, Panama are even known as notorious à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"banking secrecy heavensà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢. These jurisdictions really make the crime of money laundering more severe and out of control. For instance in Hong Kong, a new regulation was introduced in 2000 which requires banks to report suspicious transactions. This resulted in 6,100 suspicious transactions being reported in 2000 and 95% of them were from banks (www.hongkong.org/press/ny-021400.htm, 15th Aug 2001) 2.4 Combating Money Laundering: The Lifting of Banking Secrecy Despite being an important part of individual privacy, banking secrecy has to be lifted in some cases as it is equally important to fight against money laundering in order to guarantee a protected and safe society. The lifting of bank secrecy has already been embodied in the most vital international documents. Each party should authorize the court or other authority to order that financial or business reports should be made accessible or be seized under the 1988 Vienna UN Convention, the 1990 Strasbourg Convention and the 2000 Palermo US Convention specifically (United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, Art.5(3), 1990 Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime, Art.4(1), United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, Art.12(6)). The FATF recommended that financial institutions should concentrate on all unusual or large transactions, which have no evident economic or lawful purpose. Such transactions should be examined, written and be made available to supervisors, auditors and law enforcement agencies. If financial institutions doubt that proceeds come from a criminal activity, they are required to account for their suspicions to the expert authorities without delay (The FATF Recommendations on Money Laundering, 1996 Art 14, 15). These measures are innovative, modern and extremely different from the conventional banking system. In early times, the relationship between financial institutions and customers were founded on trust and confidence: neither the banker asked questions nor the customers made disclosures. The situation has now changed. Along with that, the way of thinking and attitude of bank directors, staff and that of management authorities have changed (Galvao G, 1997). 3.0 Research Methodology 3.1 Aims and Objective of the research The aim of the research is to identify evidence of banking secrecy and their effectiveness in combating money laundering. Cases of money laundering in Mauritius will be studied and analysed. Key principles from the anti-money laundering act and from regulations imposed by bank regulators (e.g. Financial Services Commission and the Bank of Mauritius) will be outlined. The study will then research on the measures taken by banks to fight against potential cases of money laundering in order to guarantee a protected and safe banking service. The lifting of bank secrecy has already been embodied in the most vital international documents. The objectives of this research are to: 3.2 Research Method A survey with a self-administered questionnaire will be the data collection technique used. The questionnaires will be sent to the senior managers, executives and branch managers of the identified banks in Mauritius. Visits to the company/meeting with the relevant person will be carried out where necessary to ensure maximum response and that questionnaire is being filled up by the addressee. Also, secondary data will be taken from company websites, reports and financial statement to supplement research. 3.3 Statistical Analysis of data After the questionnaire, the response will be input as data so as to make use of specific statistical technique. Thus SPSS statistical package will be used to analyze data for the findings of the research. 3.4 Benefits of the Research The research will be beneficial to: Companies Government Future Research Dissertations 3.4.1 Companies Combating money laundering will have a positive impact on companies: Through integrated management of financial crime operational efficiencies will improve The risk of corruption, identity crime and other criminal crimes will reduced considerably Reduced financial risk, reputational risk and legal risk Bad debts and fraud losses due to customer comprehensiveness 3.4.2 Government Money laundering has a negative effect on the economy, such as loss of control on the economical policy, economic distortion and instability. Moreover, government loss revenue as tax collection becomes more complicated and confusing. Therefore, the research will help to reduce these drawbacks. 3.4.3 Further Research Research will assist other researchers to make further research in the topic. 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